LITTLE ROCK—The campaigns for three ballot measures whose sponsors are seeking spots on November’s ballot were expected to begin in earnest Tuesday, just as the campaigns for many legislative and judicial hopefuls wrap up.

Supporters of a proposed state-run lottery, a measure aimed at banning gay people from fostering or adopting children, and a proposal to bar illegal immigrants from using state services will fan out across the state to gather signatures.

But with no statewide or congressional races driving turnout, their expectations aren’t too high.

Bud Jackson, a spokesman for Lt. Gov. Bill Halter’s proposed constitutional amendment creating a lottery, said the signature-gathering effort won’t be as high as February’s presidential primary.

“It’s a less-voter-rich target than the presidential primary was, so we’re going to focus on places where there’s an expected higher turnout,” Jackson said.

Jackson said lottery supporters will have significantly fewer signature gatherers Tuesday than the Feb. 5 primary. Then, the campaign relied on about 175 signature gatherers at 135 polling locations.

The secretary of state’s office has predicted between 19 and 20 percent of the state’s roughly 1.6 million registered voters will cast a ballot in Tuesday’s party primaries and non-partisan judicial races. About 35 percent of the state’s registered voters turned out for February’s presidential primary.

Halter announced last week that the campaign had already gathered the 77,468 signatures necessary to place his lottery amendment on the ballot. But the lieutenant governor said he would continue distributing petitions in the hopes of getting 100,000 signatures.

Halter’s proposal would create a lottery to pay for college scholarships. The lottery campaign has relied primarily on signature gatherers hired through a Michigan firm. The gatherers are paid between $1 and $2 a signature.

The Arkansas Family Council Action Committee said it’s planning to have people canvassing voters at polling sites throughout the state for its proposed initiated act to ban unmarried couples living together from fostering or adopting children. The proposal is aimed at banning gays and lesbians from being adoptive or foster parents.

Jerry Cox, the conservative group’s director, said he will have supporters at about half of Arkansas’ 75 counties to gather the 61,974 signatures signatures necessary to put the act on the ballot. Cox said that, like a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage the group backed in 2004, the proposal’s success will depend on churches backing the initiative.

The vast majority of the signatures for the gay marriage ban, which was overwhelmingly passed by voters, came from churches.

“We’re still relying more on churches,” Cox said. “That’s still the heart and soul of the campaign ... what happens with the churches.”

Cox said his group hopes to submit 116,000 signature to the state by the July 7 deadline.

Also at the polls will be supporters of a proposal that would require government agencies to verify that everbody seeking public benefits in the state is a legal U.S. resident.